Let’s talk about fruit. I did name this blog Starfruit Salad, did I not? [my first blog was called Starfruit Salad...you may notice I've changed the name!]

…although I’m actually going to talk about pineapples today, not star fruit. If you were expecting that post about a salad with star fruit in it, I’m sorry to have dashed your hopes. Maybe next time. No promises, though.

I actually don’t really like pineapples. I used to LOVE pineapple on my pizza, back in my gluten-eating days, but other than that I am not crazy about it. I’m weird, I know. Oh well. I hope you will keep reading my blog anyway.

It turns out that even though I don’t like eating pineapples, I do quite like drawing pineapples. This became very clear a few days ago when I was drawing a self-portrait of myself as a pineapple.

I usually don’t look very much like a pineapple. (I don’t think I do, anyway. Feel free to chime in if you disagree.) There was this one time, though, a few weeks ago, after I had gone swimming…I had wrapped my towel around my head in such a way that I had a little tuft of hair sticking straight up, and I had my big polka dotted sunglasses on, and I looked kind of like this:

It was really hilarious. I kept looking at my reflection in my mom’s sunglasses and it CRACKED me up, every time. I think if I were looking in somebody else’s sunglasses rather than my mom’s, they would have quickly come to the conclusion that I was out of my mind.

But maybe being out of our minds can be a good thing. We get stuck in there a lot—I know I do, anyway—tangled up in thoughts about how we’re expected to behave and what other people might think, worries about the past, plans for the future…

Have you ever noticed how all of those thoughts disappear when you’re laughing really hard? When you’re not taking everything so seriously and you’re just thoroughly enjoying the moment?

There’s no room for anxiety and second-guessing when you’re filled with joy. And if that joy comes from realizing your own ridiculousness, well, I think that may be the best kind. Self-sufficiency!

“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” – Charlie Chaplin

Wise words, Charlie.

May your day be full of laughter and juicy pineapples. Or star fruit. Or whatever your favorite fruit is. Obviously, mine is neither of those. My titles are very misleading.